When mounting draperies it is common practice to employ elongated, horizontally disposed traverse rods to support the draperies. Traverse rods generally comprise roll-formed sheet metal members, C-shaped in cross-section to define a longitudinally extending slot with a pair of straight, parallel, and laterally spaced rails or guide edges on each side of the slot. The rods are normally mounted at each end longitudinally above and across a vertical planar area in which it is desired to suspend the draperies. The individual drapery carriers are slidable with respect to the traverse rod and have openings therein which receive drapery or pleater hooks for supporting the drapery material.
Drapery glides or carriers previously adapted for use with conventional traverse rods generally comprises a body member having a retainer or head portion and a neck portion, with the retainer portion adapted to be inserted into the elongated slot of the traverse rod either through the ends of the rod or directly through the slot while the neck portion is adapted to ride on and extend through and between the rails or guide edges. In these glides or carriers used heretofore, a hook member is loosely suspended on the pendant portion of the body member which extends downwardly from the neck portion outside the slot of the traverse rod. The hook members engage the hem of the draperies and the draperies hang vertically from the hood members.
In providing means for mounting drapery panels onto the sliders of a traverse rod, there has long been recognized the problem of enabling said panels to be quickly applied to said traverse rod and equally quickly removable therefrom. This is desirable for washing or otherwise cleaning the drapery material and/or for applying, removing or changing the drapery material according to the season. Thus, for example, in a given southerly or southwesterly facing room with a large picture window, it may be desirable to have a sun-shading type of drapery, such as a drapery comprising vertically arranged wooden slats during the winter when the sun is low and would otherwise shine into the room but equally desirable to provide a wholly different type of drapery, as one made of a lighter cloth-like material, during the summer when the sun is higher. Alternatively, in other circumstances, it may be desirable to have the sun-shading type of drapery during the summer to provide shade against a late afternoon sun when the heat therefrom is undesirable but to provide a relatively light drapery for use in winter when the entry of the sun's rays is desired.
While this subject has been addressed in the past, and a number of designs have been suggested for this purpose, none of them provide fully the ease of operation desired particularly in connection with relatively stiff draperies such as those comprising vertically arranged slats, such as wooden slats, and with minimal spacing between the upper end of the drapery and the traverse rod means.
The drapery carriers commonly consist of members having enlarged heads which are adapted to engage opposite edges of a slot in the track and which must be inserted from the ends of the track prior to the suspension of the track from the structure on which it is to be supported. During prolonged usage of the carriers, they tend to wear out or be jammed in the track and the necessity for their removal in order to insert a properly operating carrier arises.
In conventional constructions this entails the removal of all of the carriers from the end of the track to permit the removal of the offending carrier which is both a time consuming and tedious job when it is considered that the track is frequently suspended in a relatively inaccessible position on the interior of a valance board or other structure.
Therefore, there is a need for a drapery carrier which can be readily inserted at any point along the length of the track which thus obviates the necessity for the insertion of the carrier from the end thereof and a method of effecting this operation. Thus, if a carrier should fail or if it be desired to insert a larger number of carriers to support a drapery, or to remove a surplusage of carriers after the track has been installed, the carriers can be inserted or removed at the desired points along the length of the track without the removal of the previously installed carriers. This should be as expeditious as possible and should not expose the carriers to undue risk of damage during the removal or insertion process.
There is a further need for a drapery carrier which includes a body formed in a manner which facilitates efficient and reliable placement of the carrier on a traverse rod as well as efficient and reliable removal of the carrier from the traverse rod as well as a method of utilizing the carrier in the most efficient and safe manner.